Judge, 1916-04-01 · page 11 of 28
Judge — April 1, 1916 — page 11: what you’re looking at
What you’re looking at
This page from Judge magazine is a humorous "small-town gossip column" satirizing rural American life and provincial attitudes. The cartoon at top depicts two women (Alice and Agnes) waiting for dates—a relatable domestic comedy about punctuality and feminine impatience. The "Local News" section that follows parodies small-town newspapers through exaggerated, mundane items: a woman running out of face powder, turnips being notably large, shoes mysteriously laced in back, and a band's musical testimony being legally inadmissible. The humor targets rural simplicity and backwards logic—like the postmaster's complaint that customers expect government service for one cent. The final items mock small-town vanity and deception: a widow recycling an old dress by reversing its stripes, confident "the public will never know the difference." Overall, the satire gently ridicules rural Americans as unsophisticated, fashion-unconscious, and prone to petty gossip—common Judge magazine themes reflecting urban middle-class attitudes toward rural life.
📄 Transcribed text from this page (OCR, searchable)
Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.
Alice—Here it is nearly six o'clock, and Jack hasn't come yet! I've been waiting since half-past five! LAZY TO ISS CONSTANCE HENSTEDP, of r Bounding Billows, was a popular visi- tor here the past week. She was a guest of the Hensteps and would have stayed longer, but her face powder ran out + The Tickville Tidings editor has an opin- ion that if there were as many presidential possibilities as there are presidential im- possibilities, it might then be possible for the voters to select a satisfactory candidate. 2 Poke Eazley brought in a load of turnips Saturday of this week, which are the biggest ever scen in this locality. We are glad to see the world improving so in the way of turnips. ¢ \ strange lady, selling to the women folks things the men don’t know anything about, was through here this week wearing a pair of shoes laced up the back. Though the meet him? —Alice—Five o clock ! WN lady has been gone for two or three days Sidney Hocks cannot yet understand why shoes should be made with back-door en- trances. 2 Yam Sims, who believes that the greatest progress can be made by slow degrees, moved his chair over another inch while calling on Miss Belcher Sunday night c The Horse Doctor was summonsed Wednesday to see Slim Pickens, who was con- fined to his home after trying to change the mind of a calf about going through a lane. 2 elsior Fiddling Band appeared at the trial of Sim Flinders, who was charged with stealing geese feathers from a gentle- man near Rye Straw. ~ The trial was held at Bounding Billows Monday of this week. The band was a witness, having seen Sim crossing the road with a large load of The LOCAL Agnes—When did you say you'd -N EWS something light on his back, on the night the robbery occurred. The band was play- ing at the time they observed Sim, but the court ruled that it was not necessary to admit the music as evidence. 2 The Postmaster complains that the main trouble with the holiday rush of mail is that after a person has come in and bought a one-cent stamp he thinks he is then entitled to put his feet upon the stove and abuse the government for half an hour. The Widow of the Calf Ribs Neighbor- hood is having a new dress made and will wear it whenever a public opportunity presents itself, as it looks very becoming. This is really not a new dress, but is made over. But the public will never know the difference as the stripes in the new one run in an opposite direction from those in the old one. rorge Bingham. comicbooks.com